Digital Diagnostics Joins HCA Healthcare and SSM Health to Discuss Closing Diabetes-Related Eye Care Gaps with Autonomous AI
Digital Diagnostics leadership joined HCA Healthcare and SSM Health for an impactful conversation during The Health Management Academy (THMA) webinar focused on how autonomous AI is helping primary care teams address critical gaps in diabetes-related eye care.
The webinar features executive experts:
- Christopher J. Ott, MD, FACEP, CMO at HCA Healthcare
- Kalyan Katakam, MD MPH MBA, VP Medical Practice at SSM Health
- Kurt Blasena, Chief Commercial Officer at Digital Diagnostics
The Challenge: A Critical Gap in Diabetes-Related Eye Care
Dr. Ott (HCA Healthcare) and Dr. Katakam (SSM Health) both described a common set of challenges primary care teams face with diabetes-related eye care. Despite clinical guidelines in the US, up to ~85% of people with diabetes do not receive their recommended annual eye exam for diabetes. Referral-based workflows, access barriers, and documentation challenges all contribute to this care gap, especially across large health systems.
Bringing the Eye Exam for Diabetes to the Point-of-Care
Like many large, multi-site health systems, both HCA Healthcare and SSM Health traditionally relied on referral-based models for the eye exam for diabetes. For organizations of their size—HCA Healthcare is the largest health system in the U.S. and SSM Health operates across four states—those approaches often resulted in care fragmentation, missing documentation, and patients not receiving timely exams.
“We were seeing a lot of care fragmentation, care was not being done at the point-of-care. Patients were having to go to the ophthalmologist and when they go out, getting those [results] back is difficult, which means care gaps were not being closed,” Dr. Katakam (SSM Health).
Rather than remaining reliant on referral-based models, both Dr. Ott (HCA Healthcare) and Dr. Katakam (SSM Health) described how their organizations chose to leverage autonomous AI to move diabetic retinopathy diagnosis to the point-of-care. By integrating the diabetes eye exam into routine primary care visits with LumineticsCore®, care teams can deliver results in real time, close care gaps, and reduce reliance on external referrals.
From Evaluation to Implementation
Dr. Ott (HCA Healthcare) and Dr. Katakam (SSM Health) each shared how their respective organizations evaluated autonomous AI solutions and what ultimately led to the decision to implement LumineticsCore.
For Dr. Ott (HCA Healthcare), the key was workflow fit and financial sustainability. At HCA Healthcare, earlier approaches required images to be reviewed by in-state ophthalmologists, adding complexity that made scaling difficult. Dr. Katakam (SSM Health) described similar challenges, while also emphasizing the lack of access and continuity of care for patients. At SSM Health, where diabetes is among the top health concerns for providers and the communities they serve, referral-based eye exams often resulted in fragmented workflows, delayed documentation, and access barriers.
With LumineticsCore integrated into routine primary care visits, both organizations were able to move the diabetes eye exam to the point-of-care, enabling real-time results, improving exam completion rates, and reducing care fragmentation while supporting earlier diagnosis and timely referral and care coordination.
“With the autonomous AI, with the CPT code, with the real-time results, [LumineticsCore] just fit in well into the workflow of our primary care clinics,” Dr. Ott (HCA Healthcare).
Real-World Impact
- HCA Healthcare: HCA Healthcare launched a pilot of LumineticsCore in February 2024. As of mid-2025, 11 cameras are deployed with nearly 2,000 diabetes eye exams completed and one clinic seeing exam closure rates rise to 77%.
- SSM Health: Since adopting LumineticsCore in May 2023, SSM Health has completed more than 11,000 exams. Notable improvements in exam adherence have been seen among underserved populations and younger adult patients with type 2 diabetes—groups most likely to miss specialty referrals, according to Dr. Katakam.
Adoption Lessons That Matter
Both physicians emphasized that success depends on more than technology. What ultimately set these programs apart was the support behind the implementation, specifically, Digital Diagnostics’ dedicated Customer Experience team responsible for managing integrations, training staff, and supporting ongoing program success. The key factors for a successful program were to:
- Integrate exams into existing visits
- Engage physicians around patient benefit and quality outcomes
- Train multiple staff members per site to manage turnover
- Require minimal physical space in clinics
- Minimize workflow disruption
What Health Systems Can Learn
The webinar helps reinforce that autonomous AI works best when it addresses existing care gaps, fits into clinical workflows, and supports—not burdens—providers.
As HCA Healthcare and SSM Health demonstrated, when implemented thoughtfully, autonomous AI can expand access, improve quality performance, and help primary care teams deliver better diabetes-related eye care at scale.
Watch the webinar recording to hear directly from health system leaders about how autonomous AI is reshaping diabetes-related eye care in primary care settings.
Request a demo to see how you can integrate LumineticsCore into your practice and help more patients keep their vision.